Gate structure for railway crossings



Jan', W, 1928.D 1,655,896

w. T. FERGUSCN GATE STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY CROSSINGS Filed Oct', 9, 19263 Sheets-Sheet l wqu @Tl I LM nfvenior Jan., 1 1928. 1,655,896

W. T. FERGUSON l GATE STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY CROSSINGS Filed Occlv 9,1926 3 Sheets-Shea?J 2 Inventor 1m w, 192s. 1,655,896

' W. T. FERGUSON GATE STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY GROSSINGS Filed OoiH 9, 19263 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Jan. 10, 1928.`

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GATE STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY CROSSINGS.

Application led October 9, '1826. Serial No. 140,508.

lo tion, inexpensive of installation and opera.

tion, and one wherein the gates are positively moved to closed positionwhenever a train comes within the block. and wherein the gates may beforcibly opened should a vehicle la be caught between the gates when thesame are fully closed or are being moved to a closed position. By reasonof the present in`v vention said gate members per se will automaticallyswing to closed position after the 26 vehicle has passed therethrough.

@ther objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings.-

In the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals indicate like parts:

Figure l is a top plan view of a railway crossing equipped with myimproved gate mechanism, the gate bars per se being dis- 30 closed inlull line closed ted line open position.

Figure 2 is a transverse section through the roadway at one side of thecrossing for more clearly disclosing the means whereby the ing areautomatically simultaneously moved to an open or closed position.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail vertical section through one of the gateunits per se.

Figure 4 is an enlarged ragmentary vertical section taken substantiallyvupon the line 4 4 of Figure 3 for more clearly disclosing the means forlimitingl the inward swinging movement of the gate arm.

y Figure 5 is an outside elevation of one of the gate unit stands,v andFigure 6 is a diagrammatic view disclosing the hydraulic means forforcibly moving the gate toa closed position, said view also disclosingthe wiring between the said trackway blocks and thel electrical meansincluded in the present invention.

Now having particular reference tothe drawings, A indicates a trackway,while' B indicates a roadway intersecting said trackway. ln carrying outthe present' invention lafi position and in dotpair -of gate units ateach side of the cross- I provide at each side of the trackway A pairsof gate units C-C and DD, the units of the pairs being arranged at theopposite edges of the roadway B as clearly indicated 1n Figure 1. Eachgate unit constitutes the provision of an inverted conical shaped stand5 closed at its opposite' ends and being so constructed at its lower endas to permit the same to be anchored to the ground by bolts or othersuitable anchoring means. Extending .vertically through the bottom wallof each stand 5 and terminating Within the upper end thereof is a shaft6 upon the lower outer end of which is a segmental bevel shaft 6 is ahollow shaft 8 the upper end of which projects through the top Wall ofthe stand 5 and to which 'end is secured a circular head 9 preferably inthe form of a castmg and equipped at its side with a socket 10 forreceivingthe inner end of the gate arm 11.

4 Secured to the shaft 6 directly beneath the lower end of the hollowshaft 8 is a collar 12 beneath which is. a suitable bearing unit vi3,while secured to the hollow shaft 8 within the stand 5 is a similarcollar i4. Surrounding thehollow shaft-8 between said collars andconnected at its respective ends thereto isa helical spring l5thatprovides a flexible connection between the solid shaft 6 and hollowshaft 8 so that when said shaft 6 is forcibly rotated, rotation'will beimparted to the shaft 8 and consequently the gate 'arm 11 will be movedto an open or closed position as indicated inthe dotted full lines inFigure 1.

Extending parallel beneath the stands shafts C and D',

with the trackway A. C-C and D-D are each of which is equipped withsegmental bevel gears 16-16 for mesh w1th thesegmental gears 7 upon thelowerv ends of the solid shaft 6 of each ate unit.'

Therails of the track way att e crossing B and considerably beyond thecrossing atrom opposite sides thereof are insulated the adjoining railsso as to rovide a block as indicated in Figure 6, tlie rails `of thetrack way being respectively electrically oonnected as at a and b to onepole of a storage battery c and to onebinding post of an electrim motord, the other pole of said Stora e batter 4being electrically connected.to t e other inding post of the storage battery by electric wirin ewithin which line 1s a spring control ed normally closed switch y.

gear 7. Arranged upon the vot the shaft D. 21 at one side of its pivotis one end of a Directly adjacent the motor d is a closed cylinder 17that is arranged horizontally at the inner end of the armature shaft ofsaid motor d as indicated in Figure 6. The motor d as well as thecylinder .17 are arranged at the side ofthe roadway Boutwardly of thegate arm operating shaft D as indicated in Figure 1.

Rectilinearly movable within the cylinder is a piston 18 mountedupon theinner end of a piston rod 19, the outer end of which is pivotallyconnected as at 20 to a rock lever 21 suitably pivoted adjacent the endPivoted to this rock lever relatively elongated bar 22 that extendsbeneath the rails of the trackway and that is connected lat its oppositeends to an arm 23 depending from a shaft C at the opposite side ofthe-trackway as clearly disclosed in Figures 1 and 2. The inner end ofthe rock lever is pivoted to a short bar 24 that is in turn connected atits opposite end to an arm 25 that depends from the gate arm operatingshaft DC Arranged within the cylinder 17 in back of the piston 19 is a.heavy expansibl'er spring 26 that normally forces said piston in a for`ward direction so as to normally swing-the gatearm 11 in the open dottedline position shown in Figure 1.

Arranged entirely around the cylinder 17 is a Huid pipe 27 in which isarranged. a'

liquid pump 28 that isV .operatively connected to the armature shaftofthe electric i motor df 'For iestablishing communication between thecylinder 17 at `opposite sides of the piston 18 and the pipe 27 atopposite sides 'of the pump 28 are branch pipes 29-29. 'In communicationwith the cylinder 17 in back of the piston 18 by reason of a pipe 30is'a liquid reserve tank 31.

.Arrangedin the pipe 27 at the side of the'cylinder 17 opposite from themotor d.

is a spring controlled normally open globe valve 32, the stem 34 ofwhich is slidably disposed through an electromagnet 33 of the solenoidtype, said stem being of such material as to act as the core for saidmagnet. Surrounding the stem between the outer end lthereof fand saidmagnet is an 'expansible coil spring 35 that normally maintains the lvalve in open position.

The binding posts of said magnet 33 are respectively connected as atl gand h to the opposite pole of the storage battery c to which the trackwire a is attached and .to

'the wiring connection between the motor d and the opposite rail of saidtrack way.

Obviously as soon as a train enters the block as disclosed in Figure 6the circuit will be completed to the motorI d as well as to the magnet33. The .valve will immediatelv close while the'motor will be operedfol' fQrGIlg th@ Huid into the cylinder 17 in front of the piston 18causing a movement of the same against the action of the coil spring 26which movementwill pull upon the rod 19 for so rotating the shaft C andD as to swing the gate arm 11 into closed full line position as shown inFigure l. Just prior tothe piston 18 reaching its inward limit ofmovement, a finger 19 upon the piston rod 19 will engage the movablecontact of thevelectric switch f so as to break the circuit to the motor(l thus stopping the operation of the pump 28. However, by reason of thefact that the valve 32 is maintained closed as long as the train iswithin the block, the fluid will be trapped within the cylinder so as toprevent the gate from swinging to open position. The fluid will flowthrough the pump 28 when the motor d becomes deenergized. After thetrain has passed out ofthe block the circuit is then broken to theelectromagnet 33 and by reason of the spring 35 the valve 32 will openand due to the pressure of the heavy 'spring 26 the fluid will be causedto flow out ofthe cylinder through the innermost branch pipe 29 aroundthrough the valve 32 and then into the cylinder in back of the pistonthrough the outermost branch pipe 29. Upon the outward movement of thepiston 18 the finger 19 will disengage from the movable contact switch fso as 'to permit the same to close. y

By reason of the spring connection 15 between the shaft 6 and hollowshaft 8 ot all of the gate units any one of the gates may be forciblymoved to o en position should a vehicle be trapped etween the gateswhile the same are being moved to closed position or in fully closedposition. However, after the vehicle has passed through the gate saidsprings will forcibly move the opened gate to closed position.

Formed upon the inner side of each gate arm attached head 9 is a lug 36that will engage a lug 37 upon the upper end of the respective stand 5when the gates have been moved to fully closed position so as to prevent'.any further inward swinging movement of said gate arm.

As disclosed in Figure 5, each conical gate stand 5 is equipped withahinged door 5 in order that access may be had to the interior of thestand to facilitate repair, rcnewal, or cleaning of the structuralelements within said stand.

In view of the foregoing description when considered in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings it will at once be apparent that I haveprovided a highly novel, simple, and etlicient gate mechanism for.railway crossings that is well adapted for all tenaces understood thatsome changes may be made therein without effecting the spirit and scopeof the appended claims.

Having thus 'described the invention, what ll claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is l. A gate structure tor railway crossings,gate units disposed at opposite sides of the trackway and at oppositeedges ot the roadway, each unit consisting of a supporting stand, ashaft journaled vertically through.

the stand, a gate arm connected tothe upper projecting end of the shaft,automatic elect-ric means tor rotating all of said shafts simultaneouslytor moving the gate to closed position, said means consisting of a fluidcylinder, a piston rectilinearly movable within the cylinder andnormally maintained in such a position as to place the gates in openposition, there being an operative connection between the piston and allot said gate units, a source ot lluid supply, electric motor actuatedmeans for forcing the Huid into one end ot the cylinder tor moving thepiston rearwardly therein so as to close the gates, a source oitelectric supply in normally open circuit with said motor, said circuitto the motor adapted to be completed bya car moving into an insulatedtrack bloclr, means tor trapping the fluid within the cylinder in frontoi: the piston while t-he train remains within the block, and automaticmeans coni e trolled by the train passing out ot the block ."ill

for permitting the tluid to pass out ot the liront end of the cylinderwhereby the gates will be moved to open position. r

2. lln combination, a swinging gate arm mounted at the side ot a railwaycrossing, a tluid cylinder arranged at the side ot the crossing, apiston rectilinearly movable within the cylinder, an operativeconnection between the piston and saidgate arm, means within thecylinder tor normally moving the piston in one direction so as tomaintain the gate open, a source ot iluid supply, a motor operated fluidpump in communication with the opposite ends ot the cylinder, traincontrol means tor completing the circuit to a source et supply to themotor it'or operating the pump so as to project the lluid between theinner end ol the cylinder and said piston tor moving said pistonrearwardly within the cylinder so as to more the gate to closedposition, and automatically operable means tor opening' the circuit tothe motor atter the piston has been forcibly moved to a predetermineddegree in gate closing direction, means tor trapping the Huid within thecylinder, automatically operable means tor releasing the duid trom the,trent end et' the connected to said gate, means for maintainy ing thepiston in one end ot' the cylinder so as to maintainthel gate open, anelectric motor operated pump in communication with a source of lluidmaterial for forcing the fluid into the front end ot the cylinder so asto move the piston rearwardly therein resulting in the closing of thegate, a source ot .electric energy in normally open circuit with theelectric motor, said circuit adapted to be closed by a car passing intothe track block, means tor preventing` the escape ot the lluid from saidend ot the cylinder while the train is in the block, and automatic meanstor opening the valve so as to permit of the escape ot said lluid sothat the piston will be forced forwardly resulting in the opening ot'the gate.

a.. ln combination, a pivotally mounted gate tor railway crossings,train controlled means for automatically moving the gate to closedposition when the train passes into an insulated train block, said meansconsisting of a Huid cylinder, a piston rectilinearly movable within thecylinder, a piston rod actuated by the pist/on and being operativelyconnected to said gate, means for maintaining the piston in one end otthe cylinder so as to maintain the gate open, an electric motor operatedpump in communication with a source ot` fluid material for forcing thelluid into the front end ot the cylinder so as to move the pistonrearwardly therein resulting in the closing ot the gate, a source otelectric energy in normally open circuit with the electric motor, saidcircuit adapted to be closed by a car passing into the track block,means for preventing the escape ot the fluit .from said end ol" thecylinder while the train is in the block, automatic means tor openingrthe valve so as to permit ot the escape ol said lluid so that the pistonwill be forced 'torwardly resultingr in the opening of the gate, andautomatic means actuated by the movenient ot the piston for breaking thecircuit to the motor attera predetermined movement ot the piston withinthe cylinder.

ln testimony whereof ll affix my signature.

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